Delivered in Grove Chapel, Camberwell, Sunday Morning, April 29, 1849, BY THE REV. JOSEPH IRONS.

"Not holding the Head."-Col. ii. 19.

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I HAVE made choice of this portion of Holy Writ in consequence of having remarked, in several publications which profess much Christian charity, the wish expressed that all "held the Head," and would lay aside other matters, and be of one heart and of one soul. Again and again have I met with the phrase, "all who hold the Head." consequently led to inquire what it could mean. Perceiving it to be a Scripture phrase, I turned to it, and was led to examine its connexion, as well as the meaning of the Holy Ghost in the phrase itself; and that meaning I hope to be able to set before you this morning. You will perceive that the apostle is holding forth both reproof and instruction to the Colossians, and in them and through them to you and to me. He says, "Let no man judge you, therefore, in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come." All these are but shadows. On reading this context my mind was forcibly struck with the fact, that many who pass for Christians in the day in which we live are amused with shadows, and are like children playing with shadows. There is really nothing of substance in them, no body; and I could not help lifting a cry unto the throne of the Most High God, that my religion might have some substance in it, a substance that cannot be doubted, that I might not be amongst those who are amused with shadows, with meats, with drinks, with holydays, with new moons, and with particular days. If Paul had lived in our time he would have added wax candles blazing at noon-day, vestments, Published in Weekly Numbers, Id., and Monthly Parts, price 5d.

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bowings, turnings, genuflexions, and gesticulations, and other things equally foolish and absurd, but not less awful than foolish and absurd. They may be shadows; but if so, they are shadows of something that is very ugly, and more like Antichrist than "Christ the body." They are all a piece of amusement, and I strongly apprehend that a very large portion of that which passes for Christianity in our days, is nothing more or less than amusement-religious amusement, a shadowy thing without substance; but I pray God that the truths of the gospel may come down upon your souls as a substance this morning, that you may feel their weight and importance, and be prostrated thereby at the feet of Jesus. The apostle proceeds, "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility." What a remarkable thing that this expression should be used here. It is exactly the prominent characteristic of the modern priesthood, especially of the Puseyite sect. There is, then, an affectation of humility, which may be a voluntary humility; and it is the most plausible, gentlemanly, and Jesuitical in manner that can possibly be assumed. Let no man beguile you with it is the caution of the Holy Ghost by the apostle;" and worshipping of angels," or any created being, whether it be the Virgin Mary or anything else, is a sin against God, it is idolatry. "Intruding into those things which he hath not seen "-mark the cause "vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." What an awful picture of a prodigious multitude of professors, who would be highly offended if we denied them the name of Christians. But what sums up the whole of their degeneracy, and marks their awful position is, "not holding the Head." They will tell us they do; but surely the Head never took hold of them, or they would not indulge in such absurdities as those I have referred to. "Not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God."

There are two things to which I desire to invite your attention upon the first clause of this verse: the first is the Headship of Christ over His Church; and the second is the enjoyment of that Headship, "holding" it, which the world is a stranger to-"not holding the Head."

I.-Let us dwell upon the Headship of Christ over His Church. It is of vast importance, and the more so in these days, because it is so generally overlooked, and other heads, enough to make a monster of the Church, are set up to the rejection of His Headship. Let me, therefore, just invite your attention to the fundamental principle upon which all our comfort must rest, and all our security toothat Christ Jesus is the Head of the body the Church, the only living Head of His body the Church, and was instituted to be so before all time, by the mutual love and covenant compact of the Triune Jehovah. This is the grand origin and first cause of all that relates to what we call salvation and redemption-the Headship of Christ. If you for one moment contrast it with the headship of Adam, we are told expressly, speaking of the two headships, that the first man, Adam, was made a living soul, and as such the head and progenitor of all living souls in a literal sense; that the second man, the Lord from heaven, was made a quickening spirit, and as such the Head of all quickening grace and life and influence. And this sacred and delightful official character which our precious Christ sustains, and ever will sustain, He was instituted to in the council of peace, before all time. The Father

gave Him to be such, as it is written, He gave Him to be Head over all things unto His Church. The Son accepted the appointment, became the portion and inheritance of His Church, betrothed her to Himself in loving-kindness, faithfulness, and tender mercy, and became her Head as her Husband. The Holy Ghost has recorded the grand transaction. So that the mutual understanding, the mutual covenant, the mutual compact, and the mutual love of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, instituted the glorious and infallible Headship of Christ over His Church, which we shall now a little attempt to describe.

Let us, however, firmly establish the fact, because the precious Book of God is full of declarations to this purport and amount. For instance, the Father says, in the very beginning of the book of Psalms, “Í have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion, and I will declare the decree." Well, then, the Headship of Christ over His Church is a decretive matter, and that decree is declared and proclaimed by Jehovah the Father. Moreover, the Holy Ghost is the grand recorder of heaven; for "there are Three that bear record in heaven ;" and as He is pleased to put it, "in the volume of the book it is written," which you will find in the same Psalm. So that our Christ, in undertaking His office with "Lo, I come to do thy will," bespeaks at once the Father's appointment and His Headship, and the Spirit's record of it -"in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will." I beg you to keep this constantly in view in all your perusals of the precious Word of God, and in all the sermons you hear; and if, in the providence of God, you are thrown in among any multitude of people, and nothing is said about the Headship of Christ, you may retire and say, "I fear they do not hold the Head here;" and if so, the Head does not hold them; if so, there is no election, and no oneness with Christ. I entreat you to look to this point, that our precious, glorious Christ is the Head of His Church under Divine appointment, in the ancient settlement of love, of the glorious Trinity, as the source of all spiritual life. What must we think, then, of the great bulk of professors? Why, we should think of them as we should of the body after the head has been cut off from it-it is a dead body.

Bear with me in the opening of this idea, if I assert and maintain most unreservedly, that all profession of Christianity, without vital union to Christ, is a dead profession, a dead Christianity, a dead religion; and there are no living Christians, none in possession of spiritual life, but those who are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That union was stipulated for, appointed, and recognized in the sacred institution of His Headship, and is therefore called the virtual union, in which, and by virtue of which, the whole election of grace were seen from everlasting, in union with Christ and one with Him. So that, as we have not unfrequently observed, the Father never saw a member of His Church but in union with Christ; and never saw Christ, as Christ, from all eternity, but in union with His Church-Head and body united. But bear with me here, whilst I dwell upon Him as the Source of life; and examine two things; the first is, whether our religion hath any life in it; and the second is, where we get it; because there may be a false life. There are not a few automatons in our day who pass for Christians. Hath your religion any life in it, any value in it, any power to walk and to work? Can it see, hear, taste, and handle the precious things of God in a spiritual point of view? Well, then,

where did you get it? If it be only in theory, you may have obtained it from books. If it be only in theory, it may be perfectly sound, and yet never have gone further than the head, never entered the heart. It may be perfectly sound in theory, but afford no solid joy or believ ing assurance, and produce no repentance, no faith, no life, no spirit of prayer, no spirit of gratitude, no oneness with Jesus, and no capacity to feast upon Him; but if it is obtained from the throne, if it is obtained from the proper source, and received immediately from Jesusfor "he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life,”—then all these will be marks, and proofs, and evidences of it. And if so, I can imagine that you have come here to-day, being living souls, having obtained your life from Christ, hungry and thirsty, and, as His people, desirous of participating upon the mountain of the Lord in the feast of fat things. To you the blessing is pronounced, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Come, then, beloved, if the life of God dwell in thee, and thou art conscious of having received it from Christ, open thy mouth wide with expectation, pour forth thy cries without reserve, take the heaviest promises that faith's hand can bear up under, and carry them to God for payment, and expect the communications of grace promised in His Word. "Prove me now, herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Our precious Christ is the source of life to His whole Church. He is also entrusted with all authority-He is the Head of authority over all worlds, and in His Church.

I am quite aware that it is a dangerous thing to trust some men with authority, for if they have not mind equal to the extent of the authority so entrusted to them, they will make an exceedingly bad use of it. But we are under no apprehensions respecting our precious Christ, and therefore I read with sacred delight, that all power in heaven and in earth is entrusted to Him, and committed to Him; that it is His prerogative to exercise all power, in the employment of angels, in the commanding of myriads of His created servants to go forth and minister to the heirs of salvation, in the preparation of the mansions for His redeemed to occupy, in the distributing from the fulness of the covenant of grace all its essential gifts, in His demanding all the sacred settlements of covenant love to be carried out and fulfilled agreeably to His own covenant engagements, on account of which He shed His blood. All authority, both in heaven and in earth, is His. In heaven He uses that authority to plead with the Father in the very character of demand. "I will"quite authoritative you observe "I will," says He to the Father, that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." All authority on earth, over enemies, over laws, over nations, over persecutors, over friends as well as foes, and over providences, is entrusted to Him. Why, beloved, what a shame it is that you and I should ever give way to our feelings; that you and I should ever give way to, or harbour, doubts, and fears, and scruples, in the face of this great fact, that all authority on earth, as well as in heaven, is entrusted to Christ, and that you and I are entrusted to Him as well. What should alarm us, then? What should shake our faith? What should produce a fear, except the fear of shame? What should cause us to tremble?

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should produce any anxiety, when we know that, with all our anxieties, we cannot make one hair white or black?

Oh, when I come before my precious Christ, and hold communion with Him, how delightful it is to behold Him with the reins of government in His own hands, moving with a touch this way or that way the hearts of all men, controlling all affairs, great and small. All matters pertaining to my soul and my body, to my ministry and your hearing, to my habitation, where I shall move, and where I shall dwell; all matters pertaining to my health, to my life, to the moment of my departure, as well as to my eternal destiny-all in Christ's hands, committed to Him, entrusted to His care. Nay, more, the old Adam chained down by Him, the old serpent, with a bruised head, laid prostrate at His feet, and He declaring that He will bruise him under our feet. I ask, shall my precious Christ, with such authority in heaven and on earth, be denied, be despised, be distrusted, be deposed? God forbid! We cannot, as Christians, deny Him. We cannot, as Christians, despise Him; but, even as Christians, it is possible for us to distrust Him. And, oh, my soul, be thou ashamed and humbled before God, that thou hast done so in a thousand instances! It is really a reproach upon our Christianity, when we view Him as 66 Head over all things unto His Church," as well as in His Church, that we should not be able to leave everything in His hands, and then realize the sentiment, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee."

But do not overlook the other point to which I have alluded in connexion with this, that all authority in the Church is entrusted to Him, as well as over all things for the Church. Within the living Church of God we own no authority but Christ's. Whoever He may delegate and depute to be employed in His Church, according to His ascension gifts, we regard as His offices, But the authority to make laws, the authority to give laws, the authority to fix and establish churches, the authority to qualify and appoint ministers, the authority to take possession of the hearts of those who shall be members, the authority to dispense all covenant blessings for their personal experience and enjoyment, is wholly with Jesus. It is entrusted entirely to His hands, and we cannot allow it to any created being. Whether we view the Church in her united body, as including all the election of grace-for that is the largest sense in which the term church is employed in Scripture or whether we view the Church in her different sections, in which she is spoken of in the plural, as "the churches"-in either sense, as it regards doctrines, privileges, precepts, the establishment of churches, the appointment of ministers, and the work of the ministry, no authority can be owned and never shall be by me-but the authority of Christ. "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men," but He never delegated authority to them that they should give; at all events, I cannot find any portion of the Word of God which states that He did so. "And He gave some apostles, and some prophets "--who did their work and went to glory. Then He gave 66 some evangelists," and sent them all over the world to preach the gospel to every creature. Then, He gave some pastors and teachers," who should take special charges, and the oversight of flocks. All this was according to His own mind and will; but, mind you, they were all His apostles, all His prophets, all His evangelists, all His pastors and teachers. And